Articles
The Koyal Group Journals, New species of terrifying looking 'skeleton shrimp' discovered
by Jhudeza Muhammad The Koyal GroupIt’s a truism that the ocean
depths will remain Earth’s last great wilderness, and judging by the recent
find of a new species of 'skeleton shrimp' there’s still a lot of eye-popping discoveries yet to be made.
Named Liropus
minusculus due to
their small size, these tiny crustaceans (above) were identified by a research
team from the University of Seville and were found living in a reef cave
offshore from California’s Catalina Island. The female of the species is on the
left and the male on the right, with their descriptions first published 8
October in the journal Zootaxa.
They belong to a family of
animals known as Caprellidae, and although the creatures are most commonly
identified as ‘ghost shrimps’ or ‘skeleton
shrimps’ (a moniker given in recognition
of the tiny crustaceans slender, translucent bodies) they are not in fact
shrimps, but a type of crustacean known as amphipods.
José Manuel Guerra-García, the
lead author of the paper describing Liropus minusculus, first realized that the
'shrimp' constituted an undiscovered species after seeing specimens in a museum
in 2010. The find is remarkable as it constitutes the first example of the
Liropus genus found in the northeast Pacific Ocean.
Although their claws look
fearsome (technically these are gnathopods, described by the Encyclopedia
Brittanica as claws “used to grasp females during copulation”) these are tiny
creatures just a couple of millimetres in length. Guerra-García has suggested
that L. minusculus might in fact be the smallest example of its genus.
Like the similarly proportioned
praying mantis, many species of Caprellidae are patient predators, lying in
wait for long periods of time before snatching and eating creatures even
smaller than themselves.
Their angular bodies and pale
colouring also help, allowing them to blend in among the seaweed and vegetation
on the sea floor. Although they are occasionally found in the ocean’s deeper
climes their preferred habitat is the intertidal and subtidal zone.
Sponsor Ads
About Jhudeza Muhammad 
The Koyal Group
1 connections, 0 recommendations, 6 honor points.Joined APSense since, August 18th, 2013, From Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.
